Biden Concedes from Presidential Race, Vice President Kamala Harris announces her run for president

Biden Concedes from Presidential Race, Vice President Kamala Harris run for president

Inside Biden’s Unprecedented Exit from the Presidential Race

How the Decision Was Made

Biden’s final decision to leave the race was reached in the last 48 hours, a senior campaign adviser said, as he consulted family and top advisers by telephone while recovering from COVID. A source familiar with the matter said the plans to exit the race began Saturday night and were finalized Sunday.

The adviser said the president “was not dug in” but was studying the data coming in and became convinced he would “weigh down” the ticket and be a complication to defeating Trump. Biden’s decision did not have to do with any medical issues, a senior White House official told CNN.

When Biden huddled with his two closest advisers Saturday, the information they provided on polling and where top Democratic officials stood underscored that a path to victory was “basically nonexistent,” according to another person familiar with the matter.

There wasn’t any single poll number, wavering Democratic official, or fundraiser presented in the meeting with longtime aides Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti that pushed Biden toward his decision, the person said.

Instead, the information highlighted that the path back to a viable campaign had been severely damaged by declining national and swing-state poll numbers, along with party defections that were likely to rapidly accelerate. The information included polling and details gathered from outreach outside Biden’s inner circle.

Unlike 2015, when Biden wrote in his book “Promise me, Dad” that Donilon told the then-vice president he shouldn’t launch a 2016 bid for president as he grieved the death of his son Beau, neither aide explicitly told Biden he should get out of the race, according to the person.

Biden made clear before the end of the meeting that he was planning to pull out of the race and asked his aides to start drafting the letter he posted Sunday afternoon and preparing the plans for the rollout.

Still recovering from a COVID diagnosis, Biden remained at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, all weekend with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden.

Biden did what he always planned to do before any crucial decision: He held a family meeting Saturday night. He has spoken to all of his family since making his decision to drop out of the race, and his daughter Ashley and son-in-law Howard drove to Rehoboth earlier Sunday, according to a source.

He confirmed that decision Sunday morning and, with Ricchetti by his side, started making calls to key players outside of his close-knit group of senior-most aides and family members, the other person familiar with the matter said.

Biden consulted only a very small number of close aides on the decision. Some members of his inner circle were left in the dark until minutes before he posted his announcement on social media, including one of his closest communications advisers, Anita Dunn.

Multiple sources told CNN that Dunn and a small group of senior aides became aware of Biden’s announcement in the minutes before the post. Many rank-and-file staff found out when the post came out. Dunn and her husband, Bob Bauer, were among Biden’s debate prep team and had faced the ire of the president’s family in the aftermath of the performance. A Biden aide disputed that her exclusion had anything to do with the debate, telling CNN that she, along with other top aides, was not in Rehoboth Beach, and that “the president told his aides that neither he or his family blame them for debate performance.”

Biden and Harris spoke multiple times Sunday ahead of his announcement, according to a source familiar with the matter. Biden also held separate calls with Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and campaign co-chair Jen O’Malley Dillon informing each of his decision.

In Washington on Sunday, Zients led a White House senior staff call with all assistants to the president in the midafternoon, as well as a call with members of Biden’s Cabinet. Zients is expected to hold an all-White House staff call Monday morning and to speak with political appointees across the executive branch.

But even his vice president and pick to succeed him didn’t find out until the day he announced his decision.

A ‘Bad Night’ Changes the Race

In the end, Biden was confronting an untenable path forward: More than three dozen Democrats had publicly called for him to exit the race. Party leaders had told him he couldn’t win. And the money was drying up from donors who said they felt betrayed by the lack of disclosure around the condition of Biden’s health.

“I don’t know one big donor who is going to write a check for $100,000 or more. And I know a lot of those guys,” one major Democratic donor told CNN before Biden dropped out.

Biden and his team tried to play off the debate performance as a “bad night.” He and his aides blamed the president’s overseas trip. He said he would debate again and do better. And he returned immediately to the campaign trail, traveling to North Carolina the following day and delivering an energetic speech while acknowledging his debate shortcomings. “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth,” Biden said.

Biden huddled with his family at Camp David the weekend after the debate for a previously scheduled get-together, during which they encouraged him to stay in the race.

But in Democratic circles, panic had already set in. The issue was plain as day: Biden’s biggest problem with voters was they didn’t feel he was up to the job for the next four years. The debate had confirmed their fears and brought Biden’s biggest political weakness to the forefront. No policy or statement or criticism of Trump could change that.

Even as Biden insisted there was nothing that could convince him to get out of the race, Democrats began laying the groundwork and keeping the door open to a change. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went on MSNBC, saying: “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, is this an episode, or is this a condition?”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on July 2 became the first elected Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw. The following day, Biden met with a group of Democratic governors, telling them he needed more sleep and should stop scheduling events after 8 p.m.

On July 5, Biden sat down for an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, in an attempt to demonstrate he was able to keep campaigning. In the interview, Biden said only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to leave the race, a comment that angered many Democrats.

It was the first of several attempts from Biden’s team to put the president in the public eye and quell the growing discontent. All failed to do so.

Signs of Trouble

After July 4, Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, quietly tried to gather a group of Democrats who would hold a meeting with Biden, potentially urging him to exit the race. The idea died, however, when the effort leaked.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Biden ally who said he believed the president’s explanation that his health wasn’t an issue, expressed to Biden’s team in private that he felt the president should drop out. Jeffries said he would be open to stepping in to help any way he could, two sources said.

Other Democrats began to follow. By July 10, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana told reporters it was “probably time” for Biden to withdraw. And Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin told reporters “it’s time to move on.”

And Democratic governors were starting to edge closer to calling for Biden to drop out of the race, though none did publicly. “What do you get from the governors if we make this work?” one Democratic strategist said. “You get a public call from the Democratic governors and maybe that does it. Maybe.”

Ultimately, Biden’s grip on his own party began to slip as lawmakers stopped making calls or writing checks for the president’s reelection effort. Biden’s super PAC began looking at what his exit might mean for their spending plans and how to direct their advertising to support Harris.

On July 12, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Biden to “think long and hard” about staying in the race. He didn’t explicitly call for Biden to withdraw, but his comments were seen as the most significant signal yet that Biden’s time was up.

Schumer’s comments followed public calls from the party’s top campaign strategists, Democratic donors, lawmakers, and even former aides. And that set the stage for the next 11 days, when the dam finally broke.

Still, Biden continued to push through. He delivered a speech in the Bronx the following weekend and went to a NAACP banquet in Philadelphia. He answered questions from reporters after both events, but it wasn’t enough to stop the exodus of support from Democratic lawmakers and donors.

By the time he returned to Washington on July 16, Biden’s reelection campaign was left to make a final stand. It was then Biden’s team decided to gamble on the June 20 debate.

Their hopes were dashed by a weak performance in the debate. The Democratic primary voters they needed to win stayed home. And party leaders did not buy into Biden’s plan to shake up his campaign by bringing in a fresh team of aides to help lead the campaign.

A Crucial Moment

Biden’s troubles stemmed from his weakest performance on a stage where his reputation as an effective communicator was on the line. Aides and outside allies knew that debate would be the last chance for Biden to prove he could handle the rigors of a presidential race.

“The debate performance was going to be so critical, because it was the first time people could see Joe Biden and measure his ability to do the job in real-time,” one senior Democratic official said.

Biden prepared for the debate at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, over the weekend with his top aides and debate prep team, including longtime adviser Mike Donilon and senior aides Steve Ricchetti, Anita Dunn, and Ron Klain.

The plan was for Biden to contrast his vision with Trump’s. But by the end of the debate, Biden had largely failed to deliver a compelling case for why voters should choose him over Trump. Instead, he spent much of his time deflecting Trump’s attacks and defending his record.

It was clear from the start that Biden was struggling to find his footing. He stumbled over his words, mispronounced names, and appeared confused at times. At one point, he said he “misspoke” when he referred to China as a “great nation.”

The debate was widely panned by political pundits and analysts. Even Biden’s supporters acknowledged it was a poor performance. “I don’t think there’s any sugarcoating it,” said one Biden ally. “It was not a good night for him.”

The Fallout

In the days following the debate, Biden’s campaign tried to spin the performance as a minor setback. They pointed to his strong fundraising numbers and large crowds at his rallies as evidence that he was still a formidable candidate.

But the damage had already been done. Polls showed Biden’s support among Democratic primary voters plummeting. His fundraising took a hit, and key endorsements dried up.

As Biden’s campaign struggled to regain its footing, pressure mounted for him to drop out of the race. Top Democrats publicly called for him to step aside, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Behind the scenes, party leaders were working to find a way to convince Biden to exit the race gracefully. They held private meetings with Biden and his top aides, urging him to consider the impact his continued candidacy could have on the party’s chances in November.

Ultimately, Biden was forced to face the reality that his campaign was in freefall. He could either stay in the race and risk dragging down the entire Democratic ticket, or he could step aside and allow someone else to take up the mantle.

On July 17, Biden made the decision to withdraw from the race. In a heartfelt letter posted to social media, he announced that he was ending his campaign and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

It was a difficult decision for Biden, who had spent his entire career in public service and had dreamed of being president for decades. But in the end, he put the interests of his party and his country ahead of his own ambitions.

The Road Ahead

With Biden out of the race, the focus now shifts to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to become the Democratic nominee. Harris has already begun to build her campaign, reaching out to key donors and party leaders for support.

Harris faces a challenging road ahead, as she will need to unite a divided party and convince voters that she is the best candidate to take on Trump. But she also has the advantage of being a fresh face with a compelling personal story and a strong track record as a senator and vice president.

As the campaign enters its final stretch, Democrats are hopeful that Harris can bring new energy and enthusiasm to the race. They believe she has the potential to galvanize voters and lead the party to victory in November.

For Biden, the decision to step aside was undoubtedly a difficult one. But in doing so, he has demonstrated his commitment to the Democratic Party and his willingness to put the interests of the country first. And in the end, that may be his greatest legacy.

(Source:CNN.com)